Bearclaw Valley “What am I to you?”

Her response was lacking, not resembling Indra’s in the slightest—which, he reminded himself, was normal and to be expected because they were not the same wolf. Still, that didn’t make her well, good any more or less satisfying; it was just there, a reply but not one that he’d been hoping to hear. His mind once again travelled back to compliments and how they worked, curious to see if offering one up might earn him a better reaction—but then he remembered that he didn’t know how to give compliments, as well as how they just felt weird coming out of his mouth, and ditched the idea altogether. Besides, the longer he was around her, the more he realised that Laurel couldn’t possibly be the sort of girl to change her outlook entirely just because of some kind words.

Again, she had questions to ask, which led to another gap of silence between them. He didn’t know how to answer her, being not fully certain himself what he would do. “It depends,” he settled on. “If you tried to attack her, then yes, I’d leave with her to keep you both from being hurt. Or if she tried to run away during her heat again—I’d also follow her then.” Reigi was his friend and he wanted to keep her safe; he wanted the same for several others, too, Laurel included. “But I don’t want to have to choose between going with her and staying with you,” he added, his weight shifting from one side to the other as he spoke. “I want us all to be able to hang out together—aren’t packs supposed to do that?” Although it should have been rhetorical, his curiosity of her views towards the matter added an inquisitive pitch to his voice.